Ram Nath Kovind new president of India

New Delhi: National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Ram Nath Kovind was on Thursday elected as the new President of India, securing a massive margin over his United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rival Meira Kumar in a straight fight.

In an electoral college of 4,986 voters with a vote value of 10,98,903, Kovind got 2,930 votes carrying a value of 7,00,244, while the former Lok Sabha Speaker secured 1,844 votes with a value of 3,67,314.

While Kovind got 65.65 per cent of the total valid vote value of 10,69,358, Meira Kumar got 34.35 per cent.

Announcing the election of Kovind as the 14th President, Returning Officer and Lok Sabha Secretary General Anoop Mishra said Kovind had got the required votes under the quota allotted to him in the transferable vote system under the Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections Act.

“I declare Ram Nath Kovind as duly elected to the Office of President,” he said.